Parent trigger law might find success here

April 14, 2011|By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Tribune reporter

Measures empowering parents with the ability to reform troubled schools would be much easier to enact in Chicago Public Schools than they were in California school districts, where the controversial "parent trigger" law debuted, says that law's author.

"Chicago has a heads up because you've got (mayor-elect) Rahm Emanuel, who during the course of his campaign spoke about parent trigger," said Gloria Romero, the former California state senator "I think there's a strong ability here given that he's got mayoral control to think about whether something like this can be done at the local level."

In California, it was an uphill battle getting the legislation passed, said Romero, who was in Chicago this week speaking at an Illinois Network of Charter Schools' conference. The California law mandated that if parents of more than half the students in a failing school signed a petition, they could force the removal of teachers and administrators and bring in charter schools.

But after the California law was enacted last year, parents at one school district tried to replace a low-performing school with a charter and in turn faced a fierce legal battle in what Romero described as "a game changer that the education bureaucracy is trying to kill before it even gets out of the gate." So far, the courts have upheld the law, and Romero feels strongly that will be the outcome should the case end up at the California Supreme Court.

In the meantime, another state, Connecticut, has also passed similar legislation and efforts have been launched in 10 other states. Emanuel may have to push for similar legislation in Springfield.

At the local level, there's been resistance by the teacher's unions and Parents United for Responsible Education. Opponents worry the law could be misused by charter operators. In California, a pro-charter group organized the petition drive by parents that led to the legal battle by the school district.

"Parents have an important voice, but it's only one voice," said Chicago Teachers Union spokeswoman Liz Brown. "School decisions have to be shared by a school community."

Romero, who is now heading the California chapter for the charter-friendly political action committee Democrats for Education Reform, said she has not spoken to Emanuel or his staff, but is talking to folks around the country, helping others adopt similar measures.

"The dialogue has already begun in Chicago," she said. "There's already a foundation on which this can be built."